


paris, new york

by never_bloom_again



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, F/F, Fluff, Pre-Slash, i guess?, where Emily and Tara met in Paris
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27739042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/never_bloom_again/pseuds/never_bloom_again
Summary: emily and tara first met in a sweet little coffee shop in paris.
Relationships: Tara Lewis/Emily Prentiss
Kudos: 25





	paris, new york

**Author's Note:**

> ummm sorry this high-key sucks, but i hope its okay :)))

Tara had been on a trip, to do a series of lectures at a university in France, when she had first met the woman, who at the time, she had only ever known as Emily. No middle name, no last name, just Emily.

Emily had been intriguing from the first time that Tara had met her, in a small coffee shop, one that lay unknown, even in the middle of Paris, to the majority of the tourists that flooded the city. Tara guessed, despite the fluency that she had when politely, if not slightly uncomfortably, talking to the barista as her drink was made, that she was American - something that was rather surprising given the location.

Although tempted to go over and talk with her, once she saw the woman take a seat at one of the tables, Tara ended up leaving, because she had places to be, things to do.

It wasn’t until a couple more times had passed that Tara had both the time and nerve to talk to the beautiful woman at the coffee shop.

“Bonjour,” she said, as Tara approached her. When Tara took a seat beside her, she asked “Qui es-tu?”

“Hello, I’m Tara. You do speak English, right?”

“Yeah, I do. I’m Emily.”

Emily smiled, an apprehensive edge to it evident.

“So, Tara, what are you doing here, talking to me?”

Tara laughed, glad that despite seeming slightly off put, Emily did not seem too bothered about her deciding to talk to her.

“I’ve seen you here each time I come in, and I don’t normally see any other Americans here, when I’ve been here in the past. Anyways, why wouldn’t I want to talk to a beautiful woman such as yourself?”

Although it was slight, Tara noticed Emily purse her lips, and decided to quickly say some more.

“And that was terrible - I apologise, feel free to laugh.”

They both did, and it was the first of many little moments, tiny bubbles of perfection in each of their chaoses.

\--

Looking back, Tara wished those days could have lasted forever. They didn’t have to talk to each other, often. They would just sit in that coffee shop, at peace, enjoying each other’s quiet company. Other times, Tara would tell stories of her own work, that Emily never seemed quite as horrified or shocked by as people normally would be - it was one of the things that set her off to the fact that Emily had a secret.

Tara didn’t care though - things were perfect enough that she didn’t think anything could change what was between them, even if it did lie undefined, undiscussed.

Those were the days before Emily disappeared. She was never at the cafe, or at the park where Tara would sometimes see her too. It was as though she had completely vanished off the face of the earth.

Regardless, each day, Tara would walk past the coffee shop, waiting to see if Emily would turn up. But she didn’t. She never did.

Eventually, Tara had to return back to the U.S., giving up on ever finding Emily again. Although not one to give up, Tara didn’t think her heart could stand waiting as her hopes would slowly die.

She moved on. Tara kept working, got engaged to a man she wasn’t even sure she truly loved, and did her best to push the memories of France into the back of her mind. She convinced herself that she could forget, if only she tried hard enough. She never could.

\--

It wasn’t until she got the job at the BAU that she even thought about there being an actual possibility of meeting Emily again. Maybe it was borne of the stories that the team had of their very own Emily, for whom she was a replacement, but her dreams of once again looking into Emily’s eyes, smiling softly, of getting to love her, were brought back with a burning strength.

She very well could have abused her power, asked Penelope to do a search, see if she could uncover anything, but she didn’t. Not even when she got rid of her asshole man, and felt so low and alone, and had nowhere to seek refuge but in those memories of Paris. She had to remain above that, to respect that Emily hadn’t wanted to come back, and would never be coming back.

But then everything changed. The team was at a low point - Morgan had left, leaving them all, especially Spencer, devastated, even if they couldn’t be happier for their friend, although everything changed, just for a moment, when the news came out. 

Former SSA Emily Prentiss was assisting on the case.

There was a niggling piece of hope in the back of Tara’s chest as she heard - it couldn’t be her Emily, she was sure, but she couldn’t help her own wistful thinking.

As she walked into the room where she was supposed to find Emily, no, Agent Prentiss, and her heart started beating faster. It couldn’t be. No way. It couldn’t.

“Excuse me, I’m looking for an Agent Prentiss?”

She turned around.

_Emily._

Looks of recognition came across both of their faces. There they were, reunited again, in a police station in New York.

Neither of them knew what to say, and there was a stunned silence over the room for a moment or two.

It was Emily who broke it.

“I- do you think it’s too early to slip away for a coffee?”

Tara smiled, “Maybe later. I’m not sure that we can sneak out right now without the team realising.”

\--

Tara couldn’t believe it, that she was sitting there, in a little coffee shop in New York, with Emily Prentiss. There were tears stinging her eyes, joy that she could hardly express.

“I never forgot about you. Not once. Even though I felt I’d lost you, I thought about you every day.” Tara said, and it was the truth, purely and wholly.

“I’m sorry I left you there, no warning, nothing.”

It surprised Tara that she wasn’t angry, but all she could feel was overwhelming joy. It had been a journey, but Emily was there, with her.

“You don’t have to apologise, not when you are here now.”

It was surely a strange sight, two grown women hugging in the middle of the coffee shop, on the verge of tears. Tara didn’t care though, especially not when Emily kissed her.

**Author's Note:**

> skdhfdfj i hope you enjoyed!! :)) let me know what you thought!


End file.
